Laird salutes Jamieson and rise of the Scots on European Tour

He will have been disappointed to have surrendered a five-shot lead in the Volvo Champions on Sunday but Scott Jamieson can be heartily content with life as he heads into the European Tour's Middle East swing.

He will have been disappointed to have surrendered a five-shot lead in the Volvo Champions on Sunday but Scott Jamieson can be heartily content with life as he heads into the European Tour's Middle East swing.

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Nick Rodger

A win and two other podium finishes in his first three starts of the season, a place at the top of the current Race to Dubai rankings and earnings already of €418,300, some €146,200 short of his entire haul from 31 events last year. Now up to a career-high of 72nd on the world rankings, Jamieson's rise has bolstered the renaissance of Scottish golf on the global stage and Martin Laird, his fellow Glaswegian, believes the current feel-good factor can continue. With Paul Lawrie and Richie Ramsay, the Aberdeen duo who both won on the European circuit last year, securing top-10 finishes in South Africa on Sunday in their first starts of the 2013 campaign, the Saltire continues to fly high.

Laird, a two-time PGA Tour winner who begins his new season in California this week, has been keeping a close eye on his countrymen on this side of the Atlantic and the 30-year-old likes what he sees. "I knew Scott well from our amateur days and he was always a very good player," said Laird, who is 76th on the world standings, behind Lawrie, Ramsay and Jamieson. "When you turn professional, it's about getting comfortable and you have to get that feeling that you belong at a certain level. It does take a couple of years to find your feet. The fact that Scott's won and has been up there challenging in big events has not surprised me. He's definitely good enough. Things are looking good for Scottish golf. It wasn't that long ago that there was only one Scottish guy in the top 100 and now we have four. There are so many good players on the European Tour who are Scottish and it's about time that we started making a push."

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